


Steel Roses

by Mylittlelion



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gajevy - Freeform, Gruvia - Freeform, Multi, Nalu - Freeform, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-11-10 21:58:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11135511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mylittlelion/pseuds/Mylittlelion
Summary: Gajeel is a simple flower shop owner who is just trying to clean up his life. He is fine with the way things are, that is until his best friend and assistant Juvia cons him into going on a double date.It was going to be a simple double date, hopefully over very quick. What he didn't expect was for a tattooed 5-foot 2-inch girl with short blue hair and the most amazing wit to come walking into his life...





	1. Rough Around the Edge

Gajeel’s life has not been an easy one, he was always in trouble as a kid, but it was never anything too bad. But after he lost his mom and dad in a car accident at 15 he kind of fell off the deep in. He spent the next 2 years being moved around from one foster home to the other, but when he turned 17 he really fucked up. He got caught in the middle of stealing this car from a Walmart parking lot, thankfully this was the first time that he was caught. The judge went very light on him, just 6 months in juvie. While he was there he met a man named Metalicana, he was one of those sponsors for the teenagers in the facility, his job was the make sure that Gajeel did not end up back in the system. Gajeel really took a liking to Metalicana, he was real with Gajeel and it gave him the wake-up call that he had been needing his whole life.   
Now if you were to look at Gajeel you would have been able to guess that he had been in the system before, between his tattoos and piercings to his constant rest bitch face. Something that most people don’t expect is that he works and owns a flower. It honestly started out as a joke, between him and his roommates Natsu and Gray, after Gajeel quit his job at a car repair shop.

“So Gajeel what are you going to do for work?” Natsu had yelled on time from the kitchen while Gajeel was just kind of chilling on the couch. Then Gray chimed in with

“Wouldn’t be funny if you owned like a dance studio...oh no what about a flower shop?” This caused the whole apartment to erupt with laughter, spooking the two cats that were laying in the window. 

It kind of became a joke around the apartment for a couple of days, but before long Gajeel started looking into jobs in flower shop in town. A week later Gajeel found himself being trained by this little old woman who has owned the flower shop since she was about Gajeel’s age.

Gajeel thought he would only work there for maybe a couple of months, if not less. But a month turned into 3, which turned in a year, and then before he knew it Gajeel had worked at the shop for 3 years.

When the old woman who owned the shop finally wanted to retire she did not have any family that wanted to take the shop off of her hands, Gajeel just thought she was going to sell the shop. He never thought in a million years that she would offer to give it over to him as a “Birthday Gift”. Gajeel was overjoyed when she gave the business over time and gladly took it off the woman's hands so she and her wife could go off and enjoy their retirement together in Fiji. 

And that is how Gajeel a 23-year-old ex-con and ex-bad boy became the owner and the most amazing little flower shop called the "Steel Rose". It had its ups and its downs, he loved having people come in and see the amazing arrangements that he made, he loved making 'get well soon' flowers for people along with all the other celebrations that call for flowers. But he hated dealing with crazy brides and high school kids going to prom were the bane of his existence, but he loved what he did. How busy he was depended on the season, in the winter time he just had to deal with the occasional wedding but he had a lot of funerals to make arrangements for, it was kind of depressing. During this time he hired a girl named Juvia to help him around the shop, half it made this depressing season just a little bit easier. She was a little crazy at times, but the two of them became best friends. However, sometimes Juvia could be a bit much for Gajeel, like today she was going on and on about self-care and how you have to live your best life for you. And then she turned her attention on Gajeel. 

“Juvia thinks that you need to do something for yourself Gajeel,” Juvia said while moving some of the new orders into the refrigerator. “You have been so gloomy as of late! You need to do something that is not for work.” Gajeel rolled his eyes not even really looking up for the orders list to meet her gaze. 

“And Gajeel thinks that Juvia should mind her own business.” Gajeel mocked at her, Juvia did not miss a beat.

“You need to get out their Gajeel, Juvia thinks you should go on a date!” Juvia yelled just a little too close to Gajeel’s ear. The taller man covered his ear just in case she was not done with her excitement, which knowing her she was not even close to done. “Oh, Gajeel, Juvia has a wonderful idea! We should do a double date! Juvia brings one of her friends,” Gajeel could already tell where this was going “And you can bring Gray and Gray and Juvia can ride off into the sunset together!” 

Juvia was practically dancing around the shop at this point, Gajeel had made the mistake of having Gray pick him up lunch one day on his way to class. Juvia ended up falling in love with him right away and, as she puts it, they are going to “get married and have 10 babies together”. She has been trying for a month to get Gajeel to hook her and Gray up, Gajeel never really got around to asking him. 

“Juvia, I am not going on a date with one of your friends, if this person is friends with you, they are probably just as crazy,” Gajeel said walking past the dancing girl and moving to start taking inventory. Gajeel’s back was turned to Juvia, he figured that if he just ignored her, she would just kind of drop the topic. After about 30 seconds he felt, what he thought, was the cold hand of death grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to turn around. When he was fully turned he was met with the cold eyes of what he assumed was a demon that had taken the form of his assistant and best friend. 

“Gajeel you will not get in the way of Juvia’s happiness! If Juvia is to win Gray’s heart she needs to get him to talk to Juvia!” She yelled while shaking her friend just a little too roughly for Gajeel’s liking

“Okay, woman, Jesus! If you stop fucking shaking me I’ll go on your damn double date!” As soon as Gajeel yelled that Juvia returned to her normal self, actually, she seemed even happier than before. 

“Oh, Gajeel you are going to have so much fun! Juvia’s roommate is so sweet and is going to love you. Clear your schedule for Saturday night Gajeel, you are going on a trip on the love boat! Oh and don’t forget Juvia’s love Gray, Juvia will text you what restaurant the 4 of use will be going to. OH! Juvia is so excited!” Juvia yelled as she danced her way into the back room. 

Gajeel knew that he was going to regret this.


	2. The Little Blue Jay

Levy has had a really calm and easy life. While her family was not wealthy by any means, she and her mom lived very happily together. For most of Levy’s life she lived with her mother, her parents were never married so she really just stayed with her mom. Levy never really knew her biological dad, she remembers him being around some when she was a child but by the time she was 11 he was pretty much out of the picture. This fact never really hurt her in any way, even when he was there he wasn’t really there. The only things she ever really remembers about her father was the drugs that would litter the house, the women that would come in and out of it, and his yelling, a sound that still echoed in her ears sometimes when her anxiety got the best of her. Levy had not talked to him in about 10 years and she’d never really regretted that. 

Levy’s mom was always so kind to her throughout her life. She would try and give her advice when she needed it, she was always was home for dinner, and she always made sure that she had what she needed to have a happy life. Levy’s mom was the one that helped her get into therapy for her anxiety and depression, Levy started painting as a part of her therapy sessions in middle school. She found that when she worked on her art it, sent her to a new place, it was better than the one she felt like she was in. In high school Levy decided that she wanted to make art her livelihood, she just really couldn’t pick what to do with it. That was when, in her senior year, her best friend Lucy asked if maybe she would want to look into becoming a tattoo artist. That idea was planted into Levy’s head and she couldn’t stop thinking about it until she decided that after high school she would get all the money she saved up and get into some courses. 

Lucky for her the college that Lucy was going to also offered courses at the community college connected to it. After finishing those classes she got an apprenticeship at a tattoo parlor downtown, it was a very big named parlor and was very competitive. Thankfully the owner of the parlor was in love with Levy’s art style, so she got taken on right away. 

Levy loved working there, the only issue was, in a world full of studs and ink, she was a blank very boring canvas. Levy’s hair was naturally blonde, but it wasn’t that ‘gothy bleach blonde’ it was just...blonde. She also didn’t have any studs, hoops, rings, or anything, she just never really wanted to spend the money on them. And the only tattoo she had was a blue jay on her left shoulder blade. So, even though her mother told her she didn’t have to, Levy wanted to change her look up some. 

So the night after her first day of work she went to Walmart, she honestly didn’t know what color to go with for her hair. Black seemed to be too...edgy, she hated the colors purple and green, pink was just too much. Then her eyes landed on a box with a smiling girl on it, just like all the other boxes, but this girl had the most beautiful blue. The hair color wasn’t too dark but it also wasn’t too light. Levy grabbed as fast as her hands would let her. After checking out, she and Lucy colored her hair in their apartment bathroom, the sink was just about the same color as Levy’s new hair but Levy fell in love with the color right away. 

When Levy got into the parlor people didn’t recognize her at first, it was a really nice feeling. During her time at the Apprenticeship Levy acquired a golden stud nose ring, she got her lobes double pierced, and (after she lost a dare with another artist) she also got her nipples pierced. If Levy was being honest with herself, her nipples were most likely her favorite, it was like a little secret she had to herself. She has been wanting to get more tattoos, she is just not sure what yet. 

So after over 370 hours of work (unpaid), over 70 approved tattoos, and endless night shifts at an all-night diner later, Levy finally got her license. She could have stayed at the shop where she did her apprenticeship but she really needed a change, also, she and Lucy were moving to a different part of town and that would have been a 20 minutes drive for her. 

Levy’s work while in her apprenticeship had made her a very famous up-and-coming artist, there were about 3 parlor’s in town that wanted her. After a lot of searching she finally decided on a smaller shop called “Ink and Studs Inc.” it was about a 15-minute walk from her and Lucy’s apartment. The thing that made Levy pick this little shop was the cute little coffee shop next door, and the very beautiful flower shop that was across the way. 

The cafe was where she met her other best friend Juvia. Juvia had just started working at the flower shop across the street, and they got to talking after they both accidentally grabbed the other's drink. During that talk, Levy found out that Juvia was looking for a new apartment to live, one closer to the flower shop. It just so happens that Lucy and Levy had another room in their apartment, they were really looking for someone to live in because it would cut their rent by a good amount. So about a week later they were helping Juvia carry boxes into her new room. 

It was nice having the 3 of them in the apartment, Lucy was normally up late working on her homework for her writing classes, Juvia was always up late working her microbiology homework, and Levy was just a night owl by nature. So it was nice to stay up late and talk about what was going on with their lives. 

Tonight was no different really, Levy was sitting on the ground in front of the tv in the living room, while Lucy was on the couch typing away at her laptop. Levy had a client coming into the shop in a week who wanted a custom tattoo based off the video game BioShock. And so for...research, Levy decided to replay the game, Lucy was up finishing a paper for her winter finals, so it was going to be a long night.

Just as Levy got to her very first splicer, the front door to the apartment slammed open, causing both of the girls to jump out of their spots in the living room.

“Juvia is home!” Juvia called after entering the apartment, Levy watched as Juvia closed the door and locked it again as fast as possible. 

“Hey Juvia, how was work?” Lucy asked, stopping her typing to meet Juvia’s smiling face. Juvia seemed to be in one of the best moods Levy had ever seen her in, Levy could tell by the fact that she was talking in 3rd person. See Juvia had this weird habit of talking in 3rd person when she was either really upset or really excited about something. And since she was smiling and practically dancing towards the couch, and not making Levy and Lucy flee for their lives, Levy could figure out that she was happy.

“Oh, Lucy Juvia hasn’t been this happy in a long time!” Juvia said with almost a sigh at the end of her voice. She then flopped down on the couch next to Lucy with a little bounce. Levy paused her game and turned around to face her friend.

“I can tell that! You seemed to be kind of down lately, what happened?” Levy asked laying her arms down on the coffee table so that she could place her head down comfortably on the table. 

“Juvia finally has a date with Gray! You know, the beautiful man that walked into the shop about a month ago?” the amount of joy in Juvia’s eyes as she said this made both Levy and Lucy smile. Juvia really had been down in the dumps lately and all the pair wanted was for her to be smiling again.

“That’s great Juvia! When is your date?” Lucy asked closing her laptop to make sure she could give Juvia her full attention. 

“Juvia is thinking it will be Saturday, because the shop closes at noon. That gives Juvia and Levy enough time to get ready!” Juvia told the other two. Levy almost didn’t catch her name in that sentence. 

“Wait, why am I involved in this?” Levy asked with a very confused look on her face. 

“Oh no! Juvia forgot!” Juvia said rolling over off of the couch and onto the floor to make sure she could meet Levy’s eyes “Levy will you please go on this double date with me?” Juvia’s mood changed just a little bit, Levy could tell by her switch from 3rd person to first person. Levy sighed and brought up her hand to her forehead to rub it.

“Why don’t you take Lucy?” Levy asked looking over at the blonde on the couch.

“Lucy is getting serious with Tinder boy! I can’t take someone who is already in love!” Juvia yelled at Levy. 

“Okay his name isn’t Tinder boy, it’s Natsu, and I am not in love with him! We have been on 2 dates, but yes we are going to start getting serious I think. So I’m out for this double date,” Lucy said back to the pair. 

“There, see Levy? You have to come with me! I don’t want Gajeel to feel like a 3rd wheel. And you know how I get when I am excited, I need you there to help me not scare off Gray!” Juvia said grabbing Levy’s hands and Levy felt bad for Juvia. The desperation in her eyes was very obvious.

Levy sighed a little “Gajeel is your boss right?” she asked the other blue-haired girl, whose smile grew when Levy asked this question. 

“Yes! He is a little rough around the edges, but he is very kind and very sweet,” Juvia told her

“Come on Lev, it sounds like fun!” Lucy said from behind Juvia “You haven’t been on a date since that guy Jet, and that doesn’t even really count!”

“Hey he was nice, it was just weird because he worked at the parlor,” Levy said to Lucy, she turned back to Juvia. Juvia was making that sad puppy face that she knew always got to Levy, also Lucy was right Levy hadn’t been on a date in a while...and Gajeel wasn’t that bad looking. 

“Okay, Juvia I’ll go, but not anytime before 7! I have to work until 5 and I’ll need to come back and get ready.” As soon as Levy finished her statement Juvia shot up and started dancing around the apartment again. 

“Oh, Levy!” Juvia said dancing over to the smaller girl and grabbing her up off the ground to dance with her “You made Juvia so happy! We are going to have so much fun and Gray is going to fall in love with Juvia! Then we will get married! Then Juvia and Gray will have 20 babies!”

Levy couldn’t help but laugh. Oh well, if her best friend was happy Levy could live through one double date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this chapter! Sorry, it took a week, I just started and internship and I have been too tired to write doing the work week. Hope to have the next chapter up soon!
> 
> Love ya!


	3. You Owe Me

Gajeel walked into his small apartment that he shared with his two roommates, Natsu was not going to back from his classes for another hour so it was very quiet in the apartment. Now he just had to hope that Gray was home if Gajeel didn’t ask him about the double date now then he was for sure going to forget. And he was really not trying to be killed by Juvia tomorrow at the shop.

 

Gajeel felt a small rub on his leg as he took off his jacket, looking down he saw his very large black cat rubbing against his leg. Gajeel found him behind the shop one night when he was closing up. The cat was very skinny at the time, covered in wounds, and dirt, Gajeel couldn’t just leave him there. So he took him home and gave him some food, the next day he took the day off took the cat to the vet's office in town. Thankfully he was going to be just fine, he was going to have a couple of scars but Gajeel thought that made him cooler.

 

After the Vet said that they would be putting him up for adoption Gajeel didn’t want to see the cat go, so within 24 Gajeel had a new cat. Gajeel picked the name Pantherlily, partly because it sounded badass and partly because Gajeel really loved Lilies.

 

Gajeel gave the cat a smile before picking him up from rubbing against his leg. “Hey, there little buddy, how you doing?” Lily gave him a long purr in reply. Gajeel gave him a couple of scratches behind his ear before putting him down. Gajeel watched as Natsu’s cat happy walk into the living room, Lily followed right after the Russian Blue. Gajeel proceeded to take off his boot when he heard a very loud “FUCK” come from the living room. Well, Gray was definitely home, Gajeel walked in from the front entry way into the living room.

 

Gajeel saw a site that he had really gotten used to nowadays, a very naked Gray laying down on the couch with Lily up around his neck and Happy sitting a little lower on his stomach. Thankfully Gray decided to wear some boxers this time, while Gajeel wasn’t going to complain about a well-muscled man walking around his apartment he would really like to be able to bring people over without fear of them seeing Gray and all his glory.

 

“Hey man, welcome back,” Gray said from his cuddle puddle, Gajeel took notice that Lily was starting to knead at Gray’s neck. Gajeel was a little jealous, Lily only ever kneads at him when Gajeel forgot to feed him in the morning.

 

“Hey Gray, I have a question for ya,” Gajeel said, Gray stopped scratching under Happy’s chin to look up at him. Well here goes nothing. “So Juvia-”

 

“Your assistant at your shop?” Gray interpreted. Well, it was a good start that he at least remember Juvia.

 

“Yeah her, anyway Juvia asked me today if...ugh…” why did Gajeel feel like he was asking Gray out on a date? Gajeel groaned, he was never really good with talking, or word in general. But he somehow gets something out. “Juvia want to go on a double date.”

 

“Isn’t it kind of weird to go on a date with your assistant?” Gray said with a very serious look on his face. Gajeel groaned again, damn he was bad at this.

 

“No not with me, well yes with me. But not as her date. With you dumbass.” Well, that was a little closer to what he wanted to say.

 

“Gajeel, that isn’t happening,” Gray said plainly to Gajeel. Well, that was about the response Gajeel thought he we going to get from the man that was currently lying naked on their couch. Gajeel sighed as he tried his hardest to keep his eyes from drifting down his friend body, Gray wasn’t really Gajeel’s type but hey he could see why Juvia was into him.

 

Gajeel knew that there was really no way he was going to get Gray to agree to go on this date, he really wasn’t into dating at all and he REALLY wants no into going on dates with people he didn’t even know. At the same time Gajeel’s only fear in this world was Juvia when she got angry, so failure was not an option. Gajeel knew that he was going to have to get creative to make this stupid thing happen. Gajeel was going to have to lie.

 

“Come on Gray...I...really want to…” Lying was yet another thing that Gajeel was not very good as doing. “Listen Juvia’s roommate is really cool and I want to go on this date with her...But Juvia won't set it up unless we do a double date. Natsu is talking to that Luigi girl-”

 

“I actually think her name is Lucy, Gajeel.” Gray corrected Gajeel. Gajeel sighed, he hated being interrupted but at least it gave him more time to make his lie seem more real.

 

“Yeah, Lucy whatever. Anyway so you are my only single friend, and you owe me for last week.” Gajeel watched and Gray shot up from the couch, causing Lily to fall from his spot on the couch and causing Happy to be scared back awake.

 

“Listen you promised you wouldn’t talk about that! I told you I was sorry for throwing up in your truck!” Gray yelled at Gajeel as the two cats made their way off of the couch and onto whatever another place they could find that was quiet.

 

“Yeah well, you also owe me for saving you from that really ugly guy that you were hitting on because you 100% convinced was “Adonis reincarnated”. And you still owe me for breaking my TV trying to drunkenly walk into the living room.” Gajeel said pointing to the very bare spot that was now on the wall, there was still a small outline in the paint where the TV had been. “Oh, and I almost forgot about that time that you and Natsu thought it would be a really good idea to take Happy and Lily on a ‘walk’ and they both got loose from their harnesses. Then they both proceeded to crawl up into our neighbours car, and we spent the next 3 hours trying to get them out.” Gajeel could go on and on about all the things not only Gray owes him on but also Natsu. Man, he will never get used to being the ‘responsible one’ in a friend group. But it felt like Gray had finally got the point.

 

Gray raised both of his hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay I get it, Mom! I’ll go on this stupid double date with you. But I’m not wearing a tie!” Gray said as he stood up to walk out of the room. Gajeel gave him a small laugh

 

“Does it look like I even own a tie? Just wear somethin’ nice, I’m sure the girls won't be too dressed up.” Gajeel said and Gray walked past him, grabbing Happy off the coffee table as he left.

 

“Where and when is the date again? And what was the other girl's name?” he called from down the hallway. Gajeel had to think back, he couldn’t even really remember what he had for breakfast let alone what Juvia yelled at him earlier in the day.

 

“Ugh...I know it’s Saturday night. I’m not sure about the time or where yet Juvia said that she would get back to me.” Gajeel told the other man from the living room entryway, something he really had to remember was the other girl's name. “The other girl's name is…” Gajeel must have been too quiet for too long because he heard Gray call from down the hallway again

 

“Wow can’t even remember her name? Yeah, you must be really crazy about this girl.” Gray sassed back at him from his room down at the end of the hallway.

 

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Her name isn’t really important anyway, you ain't the one going on a date with her. And I’m sure Juvia will introduce you two when we get there, I’ll tell you the details when Juvia tells me. It’s only Tuesday so I don’t think that she will-” Gajeel was cut off by a small “bing” coming from his pants pockets. Reaching in and grabbing his phone he saw that he had a new text message from Juvia

Gajeel will never get used to all of those emoji’s that Juvia uses, he doesn’t really bother to send back another text. He calls down to Gray from his new spot in the living room “Gray! Just be ready at 7 Saturday night, I’ll drive us to this place. And you may have to find a tie, this place sounds nice.” The last thing he heard from Gray was a very grumbled ‘not going to happen’ before he shut the door.

 

Gajeel let out a long deep sigh, letting his head fall back against the couch. Lily must have felt his annoyance because he came up onto the couch, crawling into his lap. Lily dug his claws into Gajeel thigh a little then laid down, making himself into a little ball.

 

“Jesus Lily, what am I getting myself into?”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *adds my own thirst for a character into another character* I'm doing great on this chapter guys.
> 
> Thank you for your support! Also, I'm really sorry that it took a month to get this up lol, I had an internship and a lot going on. But thank you again! I hope to update more later :)
> 
> Please do comment if you can btw! It really helps me want to write more

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! So I hope you like the first chapter of my new work, this is one of my favorite aus and I can't wait to write more. I am hoping to update weekly if I can.
> 
> Side note for Skyrim AU fic: I am so so so so so sorry that I have not updated that in like 3 years, I fell into this really bad depression and just lost interest in everything. I am hoping to update it though! There won't be very many chapters but it will at less end! Thank you guys 
> 
> <3


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